Nepal garners majority to form government
Ending the two-week long political uncertainty that surfaced after the Prime Minister and Unified CPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced his resignation, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML-led democratic alliance has succeeded in garnering a clear majority in the parliament to elect UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as new prime minister.

Madhav Kumar Nepal is country’s new Prime Minister

Oxford’s Professor of Poetry Poll
Arvind Mehrotra loses to Ruth Padel
London, May 17
Noted Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra, who was contesting the election for the prestigious post of Professor of Poetry at the Oxford University, has lost to Ruth Padel, great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin.

India’s verdict cheers Pak
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Zardari has greeted the Congress party on its success in elections and recalled that the PPP and the Congress enjoyed traditional bonds of friendship.

Obama impressed by Indian polls
Washington, May 17
Impressed by “the largest exercise of popular voting in the world,” US President Barack Obama has said he was looking forward to continuing to work with the new Indian government to enhance the “warm” bilateral partnership.

Hasina congratulates Sonia
Bangladeshi foreign policy experts have welcomed the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) victory in the Lok Sabha elections, saying a stable and secular government is an opportunity for the two countries to resolve unsettled issues.

Suu Kyi’s doctor freed: Family
Yangon, May 17
Myanmar’s junta has released the doctor of Aung San Suu Kyi, his family said today, almost two weeks after he was detained in relation to an incident in which a US man swam to the pro-democracy icon’s house.

A Myanmar national living in Thailand wears a mask of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok on Sunday. — Reuters

Peace process under threat: Prachanda
Expressing wrath against other political parties mainly the Nepali Congressand the CPN-UML that have been trying to forge a new alliance to form the government, Caretaker Prime Minister and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on Sunday said the new alliance was trying to provoke the Maoists and derail the ongoing peace process under the directive of foreign regressive elements.

‘Role’ in Benazir killing
It is insulting, says Pervez
Former President Gen Pervez Musharraf (Retd) abruptly ended in anger his interaction with New York-based Pakistani correspondents on being questioned about his involvement in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto ND Baloch nationalist leader Nawaz Akbar Bugti.

Ending the two-week long political uncertainty that surfaced after the Prime Minister and Unified CPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced his resignation, Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML-led democratic alliance has succeeded in garnering a clear majority in the parliament to elect UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as new prime minister.

A week after the President Dr Ram Baran Yadav called on political parties to form a majority government the NC-UML-led alliance on Sunday submitted the signatures of 324 lawmakers from 19 political parties to the Speaker Subas Nembang, requesting the latter to start the procedure of electing Nepal as new prime minister.

UML leader Surendra Panday said, “Around 350 lawmakers from 22 political parties excluding the Unified CPN (Maoist) and CPN (United) have expressed commitment to back up Nepal to lead the as new prime minister.”

To the date, still 35 members, 21 from the Madhesi Janadhikar Fourm (MJF), five each from CPN-Unified and Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party and four from Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, that have already given word to the UML are yet to hand over their signatures.

UML leader Nepal, who lost from two constituencies in April 2008 CA polls, is all set to become the new prime minister of the Himalayan nation. The Maoists Chairman Dahal had on March 4 had resigned from the government, protesting against the President Yadav's move to retain the sacked Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal dubbing it as a “constitutional coup” against the "civilian supremacy". The new alliance heaved a sigh of relief as the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader of MJF Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar decided to support Nepal as prime ministerial candidate handing over the signatures of 32 members of his party to the NC-UML-led alliance.

While the MJF Chairman Upendra Yadav-led group was a bit timid in supporting Nepal and sought written commitment from the alliance to address their eight-point demands, Gachchhadar rushed to the NC President Girija Prasad Koirala's residence Sunday morning and expressed commitment to backup Nepal and join the Nepal-led coalition representing his party.

London, May 17
Noted Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra, who was contesting the election for the prestigious post of Professor of Poetry at the Oxford University, has lost to Ruth Padel, great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin.

Mehrotra’s prospects had brightened by the withdrawal of Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott, but during the election yesterday he polled 129 votes against Padel's 297.

Oxford graduates and staff were entitled to vote for the five-year post.

Padel, an Oxford alumnus, who will succeed Christopher Ricks, has become the first female to achieve the honour since the post was created in 1708.

“It is tremendous that May 2009 has seen the election of the first woman Professor of Poetry at Oxford and the first woman poet laureate. Ruth Padel will be a dynamic and distinguished Professor and we are very pleased to welcome her,” said Sally Mapstone, chair of the English Faculty Board. Padel’s participation in seminars for the Euroscience Forum Barcelona, the Royal Society and Royal Society of Medicine, and the series of poems on famous naturalist Charles Darwin ‘Darwin A Life in Poems’, which was published this year, has drawn unanimous accolades.
— PTI

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Zardari has greeted the Congress party on its success in elections and recalled that the PPP and the Congress enjoyed traditional bonds of friendship.

“Both parties have a long history of friendship and my late wife Benazir Bhutto and late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had signed a pact of no first use of the nuclear weapons against each other,” Zardari said in an interview with David Frost for Al-Jazeira TV on Saturday while results pouring in from the Capital indicated an overwhelming victory for the Congress.

In 1979, late Indira Gandhi had made a very fervent appeal for sparing the life of PPP’s founder and former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto while he was being hanged by then military dictator Gen. Ziaul Haq. In contrast, then Indian Prime Minister Moraji Desai had maintained strict neutrality and refused to say anything on the issue terming it as Pakistan’s internal matter.

The Pakistani President said he viewed India as a commercial market for Pakistan and vice versa. The initial reaction to the election results has been quite positive. Analysts appearing on Pakistani TV channels described it as the victory of moderation and rejection of extremist policies.

“The fact that Pakistan was not an election issue in the Indian election is an encouraging sign,” prominent editor Najm Sethi said adding that both the Congress and the BJP did not resort to Pakistan bashing during campaign.

Washington, May 17
Impressed by “the largest exercise of popular voting in the world,” US President Barack Obama has said he was looking forward to continuing to work with the new Indian government to enhance the “warm” bilateral partnership.

Congratulating India on its “historic national election,” Obama said the just-concluded polls have strengthened India’s vibrant democracy and upheld the values of freedom and pluralism that make the country an “example for us all”.

“President Obama looks forward to continuing to work with the Indian government to enhance the warm partnership between our two countries,” the White House said in a statement yesterday, hours after the Congress-led UPA won the general elections and was poised to assume power for the second consecutive term.

"By successfully completing the largest exercise of popular voting in the world, the elections have strengthened India’s vibrant democracy and upheld the values of freedom and pluralism that make India an example for us all”, Obama said.
— PTI

Bangladeshi foreign policy experts have welcomed the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) victory in the Lok Sabha elections, saying a stable and secular government is an opportunity for the two countries to resolve unsettled issues.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent a congratulatory message to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday night, hoping for a continuation of a ‘peaceful relationship’.

Farooq Sobhan, former foreign secretary and president of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, said the two governments had already established a good rapport and could work to build on the relationship.

Sobhan said historical links between the two governing parties could lead them to take bold decisions to improve regional and bilateral economic relations. Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, adviser to opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia, said new blood in the Congress leadership could settle unresolved issues between Bangladesh and India.

Yangon, May 17
Myanmar’s junta has released the doctor of Aung San Suu Kyi, his family said today, almost two weeks after he was detained in relation to an incident in which a US man swam to the pro-democracy icon’s house.

Tin Myo Win was arrested on May 7 as he tried to give medical care to Aung San Suu Kyi following the bizarre visit by the American, which has since led to the opposition leader being charged with breaching her house arrest. “He was released from detention last night (Saturday) at 7.00 pm. According to him, his health situation is good,” one of Tin Myo Win’s family members told here, asking not to be identified.

His release comes days after the US government demanded that Myanmar’s military rulers should grant Tin Myo Win “immediate” access to see the 63-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, amid fears for her health. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was placed on an intravenous drip at her house on Friday by Tin Myo Win’s medical assistant because she could not eat, had low blood pressure and was dehydrated.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party said it was aware of the development. “I also heard about his release but I haven’t had any contact with him yet,” NLD spokesman Nyan Win said here.
— AFP

Expressing wrath against other political parties mainly the Nepali Congressand the CPN-UML that have been trying to forge a new alliance to form the government, Caretaker Prime Minister and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on Sunday said the new alliance was trying to provoke the Maoists and derail the ongoing peace process under the directive of foreign regressive elements.

“The status-quoist parliamentary parties, which are the servants of foreign forces, want the Maoists to return to insurgency. But we will never run away from our historic responsibility of writing a new constitution and will never quit the peace process,” Dahal said, addressing a rally organised by his party to protest against President Ram Baran Yadav’s move to retain Army Chief Rookmangud
Katawal.

Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has rejected what he described as insinuations about Pak Army’s counter-insurgency capabilities.

Reacting to comments from various quarters on the ability of the troops to handle low-intensity conflict and the reported need for army men to be moved away from the country’s eastern borders and near the western frontier, he said the army had developed a full range of counter-insurgency training facilities tailored to train troops for anti-terrorism operations.

In a statement released here by the army Gen. Kayani said Pakistan Army generally didn’t need foreign training, except in the case of some specialised weapons and equipment. Owing to its vast experience, the army was suited to operate in Pak territories.

Former President Gen Pervez Musharraf (Retd) abruptly ended in anger his interaction with New York-based Pakistani correspondents on being questioned about his involvement in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto ND Baloch nationalist leader Nawaz Akbar Bugti.

"It is insulting and I refuse to respond", the former military dictator fumed at a journalist who suggested that he must share some responsibility in the assassinations of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti.